Tuesday, May 31, 2011

On Friday (13-May-2011) I had the privilege of visiting an elderly woman (Betty) who was about to cross over into the great peaceful unknown. A friend from high school (Wayne) has a daughter (Bethany) who contacted my wife (TammyM) and asked that I come and pray for her grandmother (Wayne's mother-in-law) as she was "going downhill" and wasn't expected to live much longer. I arrived at the NHC nursing home after work in the evening. When I approached the room, the door was ajar and I could hear the family talking softly. I opened the door and met Wayne's wife (Glenda) and their two daughters (Bethany & Lorrie); Wayne was on his way. They all thanked me for coming, although I wasn't really sure why, because I didn't know what they wanted me for. I sat with them a while and asked about Glenda's mother (Betty) who was lying in the bed semi-conscious with Bethany & Lorrie sitting beside her. Bethany was holding her hand. Betty had lived at NHC for a few years due to her deteriorating mental state. Wayne arrived. I asked them all what they wanted for Betty and they all agreed they wanted her to peacefully pass over to her real home, heaven. I did not feel up to what was happening, but I knew Jesus is always ready. I told them about my cousin, Rosemary, who, several years ago was in a terminal illness state.

Rosemary's Story

Rosemary had had a life full of pain and sorrow and was then dying of lung cancer. Before she got really bad off she had called my mom (Janice) and asked to see me. I went to her home and she was already in the state of not being able so speak. I took her hand and asked her what she needed. She couldn't answer but just looked at me and squeezed my hand. I got the feeling it was about her eternal salvation, so I asked, "Rosemary, do you want to be assured of your salvation?" She immediately smiled, shook her head "yes" and squeezed harder. I led her in a prayer to Jesus. She cried and hugged my neck. A few days later she was in the hospital not expected to live much longer. She had suffered terribly. She had been unconscious for several days when I got to her in the hospital. There were a dozen or so family members around her bed. I asked the Lord to let me have some time alone with Rosemary and suddenly, even before I got to say "Amen" to the prayer, every single person in her room left! I was in shock. The Living God had heard me and inspired them all to leave immediately. I imagined an angel whispering in their ears that they needed to get some food in the cafeteria. I was greatly humbled. I walked over to Rosemary and bent down to her face and asked, "Rosemary, do you want to be healed? Or do you want to go home?" Suddenly her eyes opened and she looked at me and smiled. At that very moment a verse rose in my heart very loudly, "Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His saints" (Psalm 116:15) and I knew it was the Lord speaking and that Rosemary wanted to go home. She closed her eyes. I read healing scriptures to her and prayed, "Father, let Rosemary's homegoing be glorious and without pain." As I prayed this, her family had started coming back into the room. Two days later, after resting peacefully since the prayer, Rosemary sat up in bed, smiled, looked around the room at her suddenly hushed family, spoke Jesus' name and went home without any suffering. Glorious indeed!

Betty's Story

This story greatly moved Glenda and the family I was now with. I told them of the Lord's great love for Betty (I was feeling it very strongly at the moment) and that it would be the same with Betty. She would go very peacefully and be received into Jesus' arms. I had them all gather around, Glenda, Wayne, their two daughters, Bethany and Lorrie. We all held hands with Betty completing the circle. We worshiped Father & Jesus and thanked the Spirit for His presence. Then I just prayed a similar prayer, "Lord, let Betty's homecoming be glorious and without pain and suffering." A very strong presence of the Lord made itself known in the room. Tears flowed. We all felt His love filling us. It was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. Very humbling and sweet. Two days later, Betty simply fell asleep and crossed over peacefully with her family at her side holding her hands.

The day of her funeral I had been working out in the yard and was very dirty and sweaty, but my wife really wanted to go by and pay her respects. We drove by, but I was so dirty I didn't want to go in. My wife went in and visited and then came out crying. She said that Glenda said for me to get in there they needed to see me and didn't care I was a mess. So I did. Glenda and Wayne hugged me and thanked me for visiting when I did and told me about the way Betty passed away. It meant a lot to them and me. Again, I did not feel up to their gratitude nor the task to begin with. Humbled is all I can say, greatly humbled.

Such beauty, such passion, such gratitude, such graciousness, such kindness... such is our Lord Jesus.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Saturday, 30-Apr-2011, after working in the yard all day, I had settled down on the couch in anticipation of the upcoming NHL playoff hockey game between the Nashville Predators and the Vancouver Canucks. My wife and daughters were in town and I was by myself. My cell phone rang and my mom (Janice; see pic right) was on the other end. She said she had a cyst come up on her right wrist a few days ago and it had gotten worse. It was now at the point that it was throbbing painful and she could not bend it without sharp pain. She asked if her and Amelia (my niece) could come over and if I could lay hands on it. Of course! We should be instant in season and out (2Timothy 4:2).

She just lives about 7 miles up the road, so she was here in a flash. She came in and sat down on the couch with me and demonstrated her pain. I could see the swollen portion. OK, let's do this. I commanded healing and told the cyst to leave and that Jesus had bore all her pain. Nothing. Commanded again. Nothing. Did this about half-a-dozen times... still nothing. But rather than get discouraged, as I could see my mom's face getting that way, it occurred to me something I've been meditating on lately. If you ever read the Bible much, one thing that strikes you as a huge difference between the Old and New Testaments is the epic feel you get about God the Father in the Old Testament. I mean, it is like God is B-I-G in the Old Testament; what with epic battles and the rise and fall of nations. I noticed David did not ever settle for a partial victory. After soundly defeating his enemies, he would even chase them. And when they regrouped, he would pursue, besiege, and run them completely out of the country or annihilate them. Of course, these things are types and shadows of our battles in the Kingdom of God. What God had given David was land, and he didn't rest until all enemies were banished from what God had given him. Likewise, my heart was encouraged by these thoughts. I thought, what God has given my mom (healing), I would not rest until the cyst was banished. I thought the God of the Old Testament, the BIG One, was the One Jesus worshiped; the One that worked so effectively through Him.

With this, I talked to the cyst and told it these things. I told the cyst I was here to stay and I was not going to stop until it moved. This time I put my hand on mom's shoulder because I didn't want the heat from my hands to heat up her wrist and give a possibly false indication of progress. I was so encouraged by David's example, that I felt my confidence soar. I commanded the cyst to be removed and for some reason I said, "I command veins to be healed right now!" Then I told my mom she was probably feeling something now. She was. She felt heat and cold surge and then a tingling started in her wrist and ran up her arm for about 3 or 4 minutes all while my hand was merely on her shoulder.

When she tested it, pain was reduced, she said, by 99%! Praise Him! She could no longer make it get the sharp pain she had before and there was now no longer any throbbing. Amen! She said, "I know we were connected to God. I know that what He started right here He will finish." Amen again!

I didn't get to talk to her until this morning (03-May-2011, Tuesday). She called me at work very excited and praising the Lord. She said she woke up this morning and her wrist was 100% healed; no pain, no swelling, nothing!

Thank You, Jesus, that you have provided for us and you are always willing for us to have the things you provided for us. Thank You, Jesus, that we have a divinely-given right to physical healing just like David had a divinely-given right to the Promised Land!

Saturday (23-Apr-2011) I learned that one of my wife's (TammyM) friends (Becky; see pic left) had to have emergency surgery due to a severely infected appendix. She started having pain and getting sick at her stomach and her family took her to the emergency room where they immediately admitted her and performed an emergency appendectomy. She was in recovery Saturday, but her white-blood-cell count was up and she was still in some pain. Me, my wife and one of my daughters (Kayla) went to visit her in her room. My wife fixed her hair and put some makeup on her while we all small-talked. Becky is a strong believer and has seen the Lord work in her life to perform miracles for many people. She asked for prayer and agreement that her infection would die and she would be free from pain. So we all laid hands on her and commanded pain to leave and infection to die. She felt some soreness leave immediately. The next day, after some tests, she was released to go home feeling much better. Amen!

Jennifer & Her Family

Later that evening I also learned that my sister's (Jennifer) husband's (Jimmy) dad (Big Jim) had just had surgery for a bad rotator cuff. (See pic right of Little Jimmy and his family) He had been in severe pain for several days. His surgery went well, but he was in a lot of pain. Also, while there, he picked up pneumonia and was wheezing pretty bad. He went back to the doctor who prescribed something for the pneumonia. Big Jim was raised in church and is a very sweet man. He was my late dad's very good friend and was present when my dad went home to Jesus. But, being raised in a Baptist church, he's been extremely schooled in many beliefs against healing. Me and Jimmy went to see him at home and before laying hands on him I discussed Jesus with him for a while. I gave him a testimony about healing and he said, "Well, maybe we need to go where that guy was because I don't think the Lord heals that fast around here." Of course, he said that partially jesting with a smile on his face. I asked him if he thought Jesus is the only One that truly represented Father God perfectly. He answered, "Yes, of course." I told him Jesus is the one that said we could do His works, and He never healed slowly. He had to agree. So, I laid hands on his shoulder and after feeling heat in the 3 holes he had in his shoulder from surgery, he said the pain went from about 8 to about 4 or 5. Amen! Then I commanded his lungs to clear and immediately told him to take a deep breath. He did and his eyes widened. He said, "Now the Lord is definitely doing something in my lungs. I'm not wheezing like I was." He took several deep breaths easily and couldn't make himself wheeze anymore.